Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Shape of Broad Minds

"In 2006, all-round hip hop maestro Jneiro Jarel set off on a pan-American voyage to assemble a team of rappers and producers who shared his aim... to create a unique hip hop record unbothered by trend, time and location. In 2007 Shape of Broad Minds is a force to be reckoned with.

Bringing together Dr Who Dat? (producer of the Beat Journey album), multi-instrumentalist and rapper jAWWAAD from Houston, Panama Black from Atlanta, Rocque Wun from NYC and of course JJ himself.

Their debut record, The Blue Experience features none other than rap super-villain MF DOOM and is available as MP3 Download / 12" Vinyl and Ltd edition CD! Following this is SBM's debut album Craft of the Lost Art featuring MF DOOM, Deborah Jordan, Stacey Epps (Madvillain), Count Bass D and John Robinson."

"...'Craft of the Lost Art' shows that you can be future facing while keeping the very essence of hip hop intact. While the band's vision of the future may have been pillaged from Buck Rogers (all theramins and wonky synthesizers) they have managed to come up with a sound which sums up exactly where hip hop should be headed. This is fun music, first and foremost, but it's smart too - there are references that go far beyond the simple jazz samples and clipped beats of so much of the genre...the band's core five members of frontman Jneiro Jarel, multi-instrumentalist Jawwaad, Roque Wun, rapper Panama Black and super producer Dr. Who Dat have influences spanning from classic rap to new wave and free jazz, something that's evident in almost every cut on the album. It sounds at times like you're listening to a mixtape of your favourite hip hop acapellas layered over some truly unusual psychedelic instrumentals, there's not a beat on here that doesn't sound totally fresh and every single flow is delivered with confidence and skill...Stunning from beginning to end...Essential Purchase!"